It all started with that little feather
by Pulling A Blank Here
Summary: Chelsea, a young girl looking for a fresh start, gets what she wants, but not in the way she expected. Will the island prosper? Will Chelsea end up with the life she wants? Or how about with the boy she wants?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I do not own Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon is owned by Natsume. I do not own any of these characters. If I did, do you think I would be writing on fan fiction? I think not. I would probably be owning oodles of books and reading them for countless hours at a time. But then again, I do have school…. Anyway, I'm getting quite off topic. Let the story begin! :D**

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It was a bright, sunny, crisp morning, one that you could only find on the Island. A tender gush of spring air pushed its way around the forests of the tropical jungle, winding its way through tall vine-draped trees. This breeze found its way to a certain boy, a boy that was almost an adult, almost a man. It gently whisked away a fluffy white feather he was inspecting with tender fingers, and, to his dismay, carried it far, far away. So far, in fact, it wound past the forest, past a rushing river, and all the way to a property of a possibly budding farm.

The scene was almost dismal; the grass was a light shade of green, almost straw yellow, the wood of the buildings were unkempt and in dire need of care, and weeds were budding in the place of grass and crops in the pasture and field. There were four buildings, a chicken coop, a barn, a house, and a tool shed. All of the buildings were looking as if they had been abandoned for years. Greatly apparent it was that everything on this ranch needed work. Yes, lots and lots of work.

Just then, a young girl, no older than eighteen, walked upon the ranch scene. Upon her head a red bandanna was placed around silken brown locks, and she wore a yellow shirt that lasted halfway down her forearm, covered by a orange unbuttoned shirt. On her legs she sported blue jean shorts and crimson boots. Jaw slightly hanging open, one suitcase in hand, she glanced around, calculating the great repairs that would be needed for this ranch.

As if by fate, miraculous it was, our little fluffy white feather had just drifted its way to the ranch, or, more specifically, onto this teenage girl's head. Hearing the slight whisper of feather against the fabric of her bandana, she reached up a tender hand and took the feather into it. Smiling softly and admiring with azure eyes, she softly slipped the feather into her slightly damp pocket. You see, all of her clothes were slightly damp and salty from the seawater. After all, you would be too if you had just washed up on an island not more than four hours ago.

Suddenly, a short but strong old man came behind her, wearing blue jean overalls and a squinty-eyed old man face that the girl could hardly help but giggle at. She recognized the farmer from earlier, he was the man that found her washed up on the beach, suitcase in hand. His name was Taro, and he had introduced her to his daughter, Felicia, and his two grandchildren, Elliot and Natalie. They all had bright red hair, and although Felicia hardly ever opened her eyes fully, she assumed they were the same shade as her children's; a combination of brown and faint red, almost a maroon color. Since they were introducing themselves, the girl had told them her name. Chelsea. Apparently they had all washed up on the island as well.

Elliot seemed to be pessimistic and not quite confident, and his sister seemed to be the opposite, strong hearted, blunt, and sort of loud. It seemed that they were all washed up on the island with only a few abandoned buildings to occupy. However, they hadn't checked the whole island, just a small bit. Taro had told Chelsea to go ahead and scope out this part of land, and that he would meet up with her later. When the boy Elliot had said that the island was in shambles and it would be rough to live here, he sure wasn't kidding….

Taro walked up beside her, hoe in hand. The pair stood in silence for a moment, gazing in slight disbelief at the condition of the place. Taro and his family had found a home not too far off; but there's was at least repairable in maybe a day's time. _This_ ranch would take at least a week to repair so crops and animals could be taken care of.

"…It looks like this place used to be a ranch," Taro observed, shattering the silence. He turned to Chelsea, furrowing his brow, "Why don't you be the new rancher?"

Chelsea was taken back, for how could she alone fix the damage done here?

"B-but…I mean…I was on the ship for a fresh start from the city on some rural area to start a _small-scale farm_, and at least that was a new place. But…this…I can't do it alone. I just can't," Chelsea sputtered, afraid of failure and astonished at how bratty she was sounding.

"You grow crops here, after you've weeded it out a bit and placed some fertilizer on the ground," Taro replied, indicating a large patch of once-tilled land. The soil was a bit darker than the surrounding area. "My family will figure out a way to sell and ship them out. If we work together, I think this island could really and truly prosper!"

Chelsea, now feeling slightly guilty, felt a new feeling…it was reassurance. Confidence. Now she felt as though she _could_ start a farm. She _could_ help the island prosper. Besides, who else would do it here? Certainly not the old man. Chelsea nodded, a smile playing on her lips, revealing her porcelain teeth.

"If we can make this island prosperous, maybe more people will come and live here! We can rebuild this deserted island into a wonderful place to live! Of course…you can live in that house over there", Taro continued, pointing towards the shabby building with a red roof. "See? First day on the island, and you've already got a home!" Chelsea wasn't sure if he was serious or teasing.

"Right. If you're going to be a rancher, you've got to give your ranch a name," Taro claimed. "So, what would you like to name your ranch?", he inquired.

Chelsea thought for a moment, because she had to pick the suitable name. _In this whole island, my ranch will be a safe place, a beautiful oasis. Should I name it Oasis Ranch? No, this island may be bad, but it's sure not an desert. How about…_she thought.

"Haven Ranch!" she exclaimed, finishing her thoughts with speech. Taro nodded with approval.

"Haven Ranch, yes, that's a great name!" He looked to the sky, a glazed dreamy look in his eyes. "You know, I was quite the rancher back in my day. Many, many years ago I started out not much older than you are. My father died and I took over the ranch he owned but forgot about. I'll give you some pointers later." Taro got his head out of the clouds, sighed, and looked at Chelsea seriously. "Well, it's been quite a day! You must be exhausted. Go get some rest."

With that, he walked away, down the trodden path. As anybody would, Chelsea started to think that the day's socializing was long over. Sure enough, however, another exciting event took place. Right before her, glistening sparkles appeared out of the air, glistening and gleaming in the sunlight. Out of thin air popped a strange little elf creature, no taller than to Chelsea's knee. It had light green hair and wore a yellow jacket. The moment it looked up at Chelsea, it ran away.

"Wah?" Chelsea muttered, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. She dropped her suitcase on the dusty pathway, lightly slapping her face to make sure what she was seeing was real. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, off the little sprite creature was running. Deciding to run after it, Chelsea quickly caught up.

"Wow! You're great at hide and seek! I'm a Harvest Sprite, and my family and I live on this Island. Good luck with farm work, and be careful not to tire yourself out. Work hard!", the little creature piped, disappearing once more in a cloud of shimmering sparkles.

_I must be really tired_ Chelsea mused. Hey, you would be thinking the very same thing if little 'Harvest Sprites' came to you and made you chase them.

She walked back to the beaten pathway, picked up her suitcase, and walked into her house. The home only had the basics, but on the inside, it was pretty nice. It just needed some dusting and washing. It had a window, a calendar, a wicker trashcan, a record player, and a table. Luckily, Chelsea brought blankets for what was supposed to be her new bed in the new farm on another island, so she tucked them onto the bed in her house. Peeling off her damp clothes, she went towards the bathroom after wrapping herself in a towel she had also brung. Perhaps it was pure luck the contents of her suitcase were not dampened while she was thrown into the water.

There was no hot water, but Chelsea didn't mind. She put on fresh, warm pajamas and pulled out a diary from her suitcase, as well as a pen. Nestling into her bed and wrapping herself in covers, she began to write.

_Spring, day 1_

_Dear Diary,_

_This is my first time writing in here, obviously. I have a lot to tell. My name is Chelsea, I have blue eyes and brown hair. I'm a pretty calm and collected person, but I can be a spazz at _

_Today I washed up on this deserted island. Everything is run down and dirty, but Taro, an older man that is going to live here with his family, says that if we work hard, the island will prosper as a community. I agreed to become the rancher. I hope I do well, because I will work hard._

_I have the feeling that I will miss my family a lot pretty soon, but that's to be expected. I'm eighteen now, I shouldn't depend on my parents. I wonder how they all are doing? Maybe I'll write them a letter. _

_Tomorrow I'll try and clean up the ranch a bit, you know, yank out the weeds and rearrange things. It shouldn't be too hard. _

_Thanks for listening, _

_-Chelsea_

Stretching out her arms toward the ceiling, Chelsea placed the diary onto the wooden floor beside the bed. She snapped her fingers as if remembering something important, and padded over to her damp shorts, which were lying on the floor. Reaching into the pocket with tender care, she pulled out the soft feather, no bigger than her index finger. It was a little wet, but it would dry out in a few minutes. Chelsea picked up her diary from the floor, placed the feather on the first page, and closed the little blue book. Running her soft hand over the cover of the diary, Chelsea smiled warmly, wondering what those pages would be filled with.

Once more she placed the book on the floor, crawled into her bed, yanked the covers up to her chin, curled up in a ball, and closed her eyes to enter the hazy world we call sleep, dreams of hard work, crops, animals, and prosperity swirling around her unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**All right, I still don't own Harvest Moon, nor any of its characters. This story is merely for fun. **

**I would like to thank my two reviewers, **kipi - C H I I xx**, and Tinkies! You guys are great! This is for you, and any other readers that may view this! Don't be afraid to criticize, I want to recognize and fix my errors. This chapter might be a bit boring, but I promise to put Shea in here very soon! All right, on with the story….**

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Sun leaked through the nearby window, flowing its way to reveal a sleeping girl named Chelsea. She looked so peaceful, so calm, her chest rising and falling slowly. It was well into the morning, almost 9:45. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, batting her thick eyelashes. Vibrant blue eyes were revealed in the parting of those eyelids, eyes spilling over with sleep. Chelsea sat up, stretching her arms out toward the ceiling, yawning to banish sleep. She swung her feet over the side of the bed, wrenching off her blankets as she did so.

She went to the bathroom, washed her face, and then realized that she still hadn't unpacked her things from her suitcase. In the proceeding hour, she did so, though it wasn't much. Chelsea soon brushed her teeth and hair, as well as put on fresh attire for the day. In the middle of making her bed, somebody knocked loudly on the door.

"Coming!" she called, perfecting the arrangement of the sheets.

Upon opening the door, she found a very excited-looking Taro. He was short of breath, as though he had run a pretty decent distance. This worried Chelsea, partly because he was old.

Gasping for breath, he cried out, "We've got some new arrivals!"

"Already?" Chelsea gasped. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that people would arrive so soon.

"Let's go down to the beach and meet them!"

"A-alright. Let me just get my shoes on…and my bag."

Chelsea, excited at the prospect of new arrivals, practically ransacked her once-clean room for her boots, which turned out to be right next to the door in the first place. Slipping her backpack on and tightening her bandanna, Chelsea walked out of her house, Taro close by.

On the long walk, they strolled through the old towns. Chelsea got more of a chance to inspect them more carefully, for she was well-rested and had more time. She realized that all of the homes _could_ be repaired, all it took was good craftsmanship. In fact, Chelsea could see it in her mind's eye: a bustling city, merchants whizzing through the cobble-stoned streets, fresh shops selling produce, animals, seeds, and other luxury items. It fit rather well with the island itself, in Chelsea's opinion. The beautiful scenery of trees and fresh incoming air from the sea would rather compliment a little island town.

Soon, the beach was getting closer and closer, and Chelsea could see the beach, with it's pure white sand, the large boulder coated in green substance that stood near the dock, but far enough away from the shoreline so it wouldn't be washed away, and the grand wooden dock that was in rather good shape. Not only was the dock in place, but a large ship as well! Chelsea couldn't believe her eyes; it was all too good to be true. Sure enough, when she rubbed her eyes of any remaining sleep that may have been deceiving her, she knew that this was _really_ happening. From where she was currently walking, which was about a hundred yards from the scene, she could even see Taro's family, Felicia, Natalie, and Elliot, as well as two figures that Chelsea couldn't recognize right away.

Suddenly, Taro practically sprinted the rest of the way, leaving Chelsea in a slight daze. _How can he run so fast? He's so old! Heh, I guess the old-timer's still got some kick in him…_, Chelsea wondered. Realizing that she was left behind while he was at the beach, Chelsea ran up to meet them all.

"What took you so long? Slowpoke!" Taro exclaimed once she arrived on the beach. At last Chelsea got a good look at the two strangers. They both looked like they had Asian ancestors, but not predominantly. The older of the pair, maybe in his early forties, was wearing a purple Asian top lined with pink over a white long-sleeved shirt, which had a belt over his waist. He also wore dark pants tucked in brown boots, as well as both a bun and a headband on his head, wrapping around his forehead to the back, the tails of which were flowing in the ocean breeze. The smaller stranger, maybe around ten or twelve, wore a headband of the same manner. On his torso was a green long-sleeved Asian top lined with brown, with a russet vest over it, as well as blue pants and deep brown shoes. Both had dark hair and eyes, as well as slightly tanned skin.

"Ah, you must be Chelsea. I'm Chen, and this is my son Charlie. We're merchants, pleased to meet you." the older man, Chen explained. He took the time now to bow with respect, and everybody returned the gesture.

"Yeah, ditto! How's it going?" the younger boy, Charlie, piped.

"I just sold my old shop in the city. I felt like it was time for a change of scenery. I was looking to open a shop on one of these islands," Chen said, "And I think this island has the most potential. I know the island's deserted now, but I hear it used to be quite a bustling town. Now that you're here, I think a lot of business will start coming back."

Chen's even arranged for cargo ships to make regular stops on this island! It's wonderful! Now we can ship and sell any crops that you grow, Chelsea!", Felicia reported.

"See? I knew things would work out!" Taro yelled, proud of recent events.

"And since you'll be farming, I'll be sure to stock plenty of seeds in my store," Chen further clarified.

"That's great! I admit, at first I wasn't quite sure how we'd make this work. But now that Chen's here, you've got everything you need to start farming, Chelsea." Taro said, turning to Chelsea expectantly. Chelsea just kept listening, feeling like she was in some sort of far-off dream. As if any moment, she was going to wake up now, but she didn't want to. In fact, she prayed this _wasn't_ a dream.

"But if you want to start a ranch, you'll need some animals. I know some animal sellers. I'll see what I can do," Chen promised, a warm smile playing on his gentle features.

"That's perfect! Thank you so much, Chen!" Taro announced.

"No, no. Thank _you_! If you hadn't moved here, I don't' know where I would have set up my new shop." Chen asserted. Turning to Felicia, he added, "Felicia, the boat can take you into the city today if you'd like."

"That'd be wonderful! I can start finding buyers for Chelsea's crops!" Felicia said.

"Okay, then. Now we just need to find a good spot for our store." Chen said.

Taro told him he knew just the place, and leaded the whole gang up into town. Everyone followed quietly, but Chelsea walked up to Chen quietly, feeling that she owed the man something.

"I…I would really like to thank you for all that you've done and all that you're going to do for us here. We really do appreciate it," Chelsea thanked. She was really quite embarrassed, so she twiddled with her fingers. Chen, however, patted her on the head, right where her bandana was.

"You're quite welcome. Like I said, you all here have given us something as well. Don't forget that. We're all a community now," said Chen, acting so much like the father Chelsea knew he must be. They soon stopped in front of yet another run-down home. However, just like all the others, it could be repaired, and it would make a very nice home and business.

"This is perfect! We'll have this fixed up in no time! Let's get started, Charlie!", the proud father proclaimed, laughing and putting his arms up to gesture to the home.

The son, however, looked a little annoyed. "Hey! You haven't told them about what I can do yet! Sheesh!" the young boy named Charlie complained, a pout playing on his mouth and arms crossing. He continued. "If you can bring me the right materials, I can enhance tools and make accessories. If you bring me Wonderfuls, I can equip them on tools to enhance them. If you bring me Orichalc, I can make some cool accessories!"

"We may get some Wonderfuls during the Winter. Keep checking our stock," Chen clarified. "Anyway, it's time for us to get to work. Please come by when we open!"

"Glad to have you here, Chen and Charlie. Good luck!" Taro called as they all walked away to their homes. He turned his attention to Chelsea, saying, "Chelsea, when you get home, I would try cleaning out your farm a lot. You know, pull some weeds, clean up the barn, weed out the soil. If you find any wild plants, put them in the shipping bin next to your home. I'll come by later to pick up everything later."

Chelsea nodded, wished him a good day and farewell, and returned to her property. She put her hands on her hips, sighed, pulled her sleeves up to her shoulders, and set to work. For a few hours, she pulled weeds out of the fields where crops would be grown, and then she went into the barn, where she hauled out pieces of wood that were placed in there. The hard-working teen took out the feed bins and water bins, scrubbed them out, and then placed them back where they were. She also weeded out in there. Upon looking at the tools shed, she found an old hoe, sickle, watering can, axe, and hammer. All of them were in pretty good shape, just a little old and heavy for Chelsea.

After cleaning up just a bit more in there, she even found a sack of turnip seeds! Once she was done polishing all of the utensils, she took the hoe, watering can, and seeds out, filled the watering can, and then went into the field. It took quite a while for Chelsea to get the land tilled enough for the soil to reach a richer color. Twelve minutes, six blisters, and one backache later, she had the land ready to plant the seeds. With tender hands she evenly dispersed the seeds among eighteen holes, covered them, and dampened the ground where they were buried. She was especially careful not to plant them too deep or too shallow. At last, when planting them was done, she stood up, bent back so her back cracked, and wiped her brow of sweat.

Once the few seconds she spent gazing at her hard work was over, Chelsea searched all corners of her property and everything in-between for wild plants, such as wild herbs or flowers. With great luck, she found quite a few, and placed them carefully in the shipping bin so they wouldn't be bumped or bruised. Then she went over to a great pile of weeds, the place where she had placed all of the weeds that were uprooted from her property, and, bit by bit, she threw them in a trash bin she had found in a barn. Of course, before she placed them in the trash bin, she had moved the trash bin next to the tool shed.

Finally, at 5:37 p.m., Chelsea stood back, and admired her work for the last time. Yes, it had come a long way since this morning. Everything was cleaner, fresher-reborn, you could say. Almost all of the weeds were gone, and the field soil was darker, and Chelsea had the blisters to prove that she had exerted the necessary energy to make it so. _I'm so proud!_ she mentally cheered, closing her eyes in a warm smile.

Just then, Taro walked up to Chelsea's property. He looked quite worn out as well; perhaps he was working on his family's home. Taro went over to Chelsea's shipping box, and she ran up to greet him. The old man told her that his home was almost complete with repair, and that her farm was coming along very nicely. He picked up her shipments, said that he would bring them to the ship, and that Chelsea should get some rest.

Chelsea went into her house, cleaned up, changed into her pajamas, and brought out her blue diary, along with her pen. She wrote rather quickly; she wanted to sleep as soon as possibly.

_Spring, day 2._

_Dear Diary,_

_Things are turning out to be really amazing! It's only my second day here and already two people have moved to the island! I'm so happy, they are going to open up a grocery store! The older of the two, Chen, is going to run the store and his son, Charlie, is going to improve tools for us if we give him 'Wonderfuls', whatever those are. With Chen and Charlie came a boat, and Felicia went into a neighboring city to arrange for people to buy my crops. Chen is also going to find some animal sellers for me. It's just great!_

_Today I cleaned up the farm a lot, I weeded and washed almost everywhere. I even found some wild plants and flowers. I put them in the shipping bin and Taro came and picked them up to ship them. I wonder how much money I'll get? It was a lot of work, so I hope a pretty good sum. I got so many blisters, it hurts my hands to write this. Speaking of blisters, I got a couple of them while planting turnip seeds, using some old tools I found in an poor tool shed. It was such hard work just to plant a few of them, I hate to think what it would be like to plant almost a whole field of them! Will I always be planting them alone? _

_Well, here's to another good day,_

_-Chelsea_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hmm…I don't really know what to put here…. I guess thanks again for all of you who have read my story, and an extra BIG thank you to those of you who have reviewed. You see, guys? I really like it when you review, and it makes me want to update sooner. So please review? Thankssss.**

**Another thing, I wasn't really sure how to appropriately write out a 'timeskip', so if you guys have a better idea as to how I could have done this, I would be happy to change it. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors, please notify me so they can be fixed as soon as possible. **

**Commence, timeskip! :D**

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_Spring 18, _

_Jeez, it's been a long time since I've written in here. I think around 15 days. How time flies. I've just been so busy though! I've been working so hard, watering crops, foraging for items, fishing (I got a fishing rod from Taro after we got a little closer), and raking in money any way I can. My crops have been going pretty well, my turnips have grown and should be ready to harvest soon. I've also planted some potatoes, and they are coming along nicely. Oh, the blisters!_

_New villagers have moved in too! Let's see, there's Gannon, a really brute-looking man with grayish hair and a bald head. He'll be the carpenter, so he'll be upgrading buildings and making new ones! When he came, he destroyed a big boulder that was preventing us from getting to another side of the island. So we discovered some new old buildings and an edge of the island. He sort of reminds me of an ape. Hm... There's also Julia and Mirabelle, two pretty ladies that are going to run this livestock shop! Once I get enough cash, I'm going to buy a chicken coop and chickens. Then there's Denny, the traveling fisherman that came here because I shipped so many fish! He's quite handsome too. :D _

_Geez, I'm starting to rant here. Oh well. I've been talking to Denny lately, and he always tells me of these far-off places. I know it's rash, but that's why I've planned a trip around the island! I've got it all planned out: I'm going to go to bed early, get up early, get my work done, and set off with a bag of supplies I've already packed. Julia and Mirabelle will check on my animals at around noon. I know it seems sort of sudden, writing this all in just one entry, but I've thought it out for about a week, and this is the best decision for me. I like to think about it as a vacation. I'll be traveling along the shoreline, just so I don't get lost. _

_Right, well, I think I'm done 'reporting' to you. Tomorrow, I'll be off!_

_-Chelsea_

The spring sun's light had barely graced the air above the trees when Chelsea was standing before the exit of her farm, her rucksack a little more heavy from the provisions for her trip, which included canisters of water, some sandwiches, and an apple. The crops were watered, and the herbs found on the farm were plucked and placed in the shipping bin. Any moment now, Julia was to meet her at this beaten down patch of grass so she could assure her that she was indeed leaving. Chelsea wished she would come soon; the sun was already starting to rise, and she didn't want to be stuck in the sun late into the afternoon.

Sure enough, over the low hill before the entrance to Chelsea's farm, Julia's golden, pony-tailed hair appeared, slowly revealing her body, sporting shorts, a plaid over shirt and white tank top underneath, complete with boots. There was no denying it, this blue-eyed blond was pretty, very beautiful in fact. A gorgeous face sat atop a mature body, really. In truth, Chelsea was rather jealous, but not in a petty fashion. Chelsea was jealous in a mild way; Julia made her feel insignificant and of lesser value. It wasn't as if she treated her any less. In fact, they had grown quite sisterly, almost as close as Chelsea was with Denny.

"Hey, Chelse!" Julia greeted, waving lightly.

"Hi, Julia. I'm going to be heading off soon. You can come still back later, right?" Chelsea replied.

"Oh, yeah. Right around noon. I'll be here. When do you think you'll be back?"

"I dunno, maybe the afternoon, early evening. I want to leave early so I don't get burnt."

"Well don't let me stop you. Go on, get going. I'll take care of things," Julia laughed, mockingly shooing Chelsea away. The pair took a few seconds to laugh, then parted ways. Julia headed back to the shop, and Chelsea practically marched to the beach, making use of her long strides.

Soon enough she came upon the place where the water crashed onto white sand, and, coincidentally, Denny was perched on top of a dock, fishing rod in hand and Kuu, his raven companion, on one of his broad shoulders. Chelsea decided to ask him if he could check her farm in the evening, since she was already behind schedule. Denny, noticing her walking over, offered a friendly wave while another hand held the fishing rod. Denny had beautifully dark skin and curly brunette hair, complete with dark eyes and eyebrows. His daily apparel consisted of a black tank top and jeans, over which dark blue boots were placed. On his shoulders sat a white towel and around his waist wound a dark purple plaid jacket, which Denny had told Chelsea he wore in the cooler months or if the breeze gets too strong. Around his neck was a handsome shark tooth on black cord, and on his head, a purple bandanna. Denny had always said that they should trade headbands for a day, just to see if the islanders would say anything.

"Hey! What's up?" he called, obviously wondering what she was doing at the beach at such an early hour, especially since she was supposed to be beginning her trip. Chelsea rushed over, kicking up beautiful white sand.

"Oh, nothing. I'm going to be heading out soon. I was wondering if you could check out my farm and make sure everything's fine before you got to bed. I'm already behind schedule, and I was hoping you would make sure everything's okay since I will be getting home a little later," she explained. Denny cracked one of his smiles, revealing white teeth.

"Yeah, sure, no prob," he replied. "Make sure you tell me what you find on the other side of the island, 'kay?"

"Sure thing!" Chelsea replied. With that, she walked away from the beach and to the near roads. She walked to the east side of the island, to the very tree-covered edge. Our brunette followed this tree path for some time before she came to a rushing river. The water was beautiful, clear and pristine; lively plants grew on the rocks on the bottom, and fish wound their way in frolicking circles. Not too far off to her left, was an old decrepit bridge; only the first couple of planks on either side were still standing, while the rest had rotted long ago. It was now that Chelsea carried out a previously thought out plan; she took an old tree trunk from the ground (not too old or dry, or else it would break), and placed them across the length of the river. Twice more she carried out the same procedure, until she had a decent supplement for a bridge. Then she carefully paced across the river on the logs, spreading out her arms to balance herself, taking gentle steps so the logs would not break or roll out of place. When at last her boots graced the grassy ground, Chelsea turned around for a moment to admire her completed task, and then continued walking.

After some time passed, and the sun got higher, Chelsea walked father, and by doing so she observed the plants change before her eyes; everything became more tropical, both flora and fauna. The sound of bugs culminated in the background, creating a constant hum. Every few seconds, a tropical bird cried, or a parrot sang. As the she went farther, she was pushed farther to the edge, so there were no trees in-between her and the ocean. Chelsea was walking on the edge of a 'cliff' sort of path; to the left was the forest, and to the right was the steep rock edge, a twenty-foot drop at least.

Every so often, when something new was seen, Chelsea would take out her diary and make notes of what she saw. Soon two diary pages were crammed with little sketches and descriptions of exotic plants and animals. The day was rather airy and light, but warm nonetheless. Consequently, Chelsea was compelled to take a swig of water from her canisters rather periodically. Sweat began to collect on her brow, and she would sweep it away impatiently.

After walking for what must have been hours, Chelsea made a mental note to find a lunch spot soon as her stomach growled impatiently. Upon coming to a clearing, she spotted an alluring, flat rock to sit on, and by doing so, she found an excellent view of the rolling waves of the ocean. She closed her eyes, listening to the swaying beat of the ocean and the luxurious hums of the jungle behind her.

It was then when it all started.

From amidst the silence, a roughly thunderous _crack! _sounded in the distance. Chelsea whirled her head around to find the source, and what she found startled her. A tall figure standing in the shadows of the jungle, and Chelsea shivered with fear. Was it a wild animal? Or…was it all some stupid prank?

"D-Denny, if this is a joke, it's not f-funny!" Chelsea said, trying to steady her voice despite herself. "C-come out!"

What Chelsea did not notice, however, was that where she was standing was precariously close to the edge of the cliff, so close in fact, that her heel was sending little rocks of rubble plummeting into the water.

"D-Denny?" Chelsea whimpered, taking a step back, and jumping when she found no hard surface to place it on. The figure reached out a…_hand?_ and, although the figure was around twenty feet away, it scared Chelsea terribly. It was then that the cliff decided to crumble, sending Chelsea plunging downward, hitting her head on a falling rock and making a nose-dive into the icy crystalline water.

**I'm sorry it took so long and was so short, everybody! Please review! I want to get a lot better. 33**


	4. Chapter 4

_Are those birds crying? Where am I? Did I…die? How…when. Were those arms around me…my waist? Dark figure…kill Denny. Was it Denny? Who… _

_Pain…my head…._

_Dark figure…._

Chelsea suddenly felt sun blazing down upon her, warming her dampened face and focusing her attention to the rush of pain in the side of her head. Due to primary impulse, she reached a swift hand to the source of pain, a bump quite large in size. Upon feeling its immense size, Chelsea groaned in frustration and pain. She willed herself to rise, but went back upon the thought, thinking that it was best to see her surroundings before sitting up.

At first, her vision was blurry and excessively bright-Chelsea assumed this was due to the sun. Once it cleared and her eyes adjusted, she came to see a clear blue sky, just as her vision had left it. But there was something else, and, after a few passing moments, her blue eyes came to see something she never expected.

The face of a tanned boy staring down at her, with the most curious look showering upon her features, his spiky ruffled brown hair dripping wet. In fact, the drops were lightly tapping her chin at that moment. He looked at her as if he had never seen anything like her before. With every second that passed, Chelsea could have sworn her face turned a shade of deeper pink, and it didn't make matters worse that the boy was obviously not wearing a top, because Chelsea could see bare tan shoulders.

"H-hello," Chelsea gently greeted, slightly fumbling her words from embarrassment.

As if she couldn't be any more flustered, the boy adorably cocked his head, widening his chocolate-brown eyes in question.

"You…human?" the boy inquired.

Chelsea smiled and sat up, slightly amused by the boy's sentence structure. Not in a rude or condescending way, she just thought of the many conditions under which he would be uneducated in speaking or language. Now that she had a better view of the boy, she made a quick observation of his appearance, which was quite curious indeed. The boy was quite tan, and had dominant features- dark eyes, skin, and hair- but that didn't take away from his boyish looks, although it was obvious that he was older than Chelsea, due to his muscular definition, height, and broad shoulders. His clothes were out of the ordinary- in fact, they reminded Chelsea of one of her favorite childhood movies, Tarzan. There was nothing covering his strong and toned chest-mind you, not that of a body builder-but he wore a decent-sized loincloth sort of garment, which covered him so that nothing of profanity was showing, nor coming close to that. The material that made up the loincloth was tiger fur, as were the long arm coverings he wore, covering both of his forearms completely. Upon his legs and feet were shoes made of the same fur, which extended up to his knees. Around his broad chest and back there was a strap of leather, which held a pouch, inside of which was a knife. It was now that she noticed that she and her clothes were rather damp, as was the boy and his clothing.

"Yes," Chelsea smiled, "My name," she said, placing her hand on her chest, "is Chelsea. What's yours?"

"Name…My name is Shea," he replied. Shea reached out his hand and briefly touched her head and hair, tracing her cheekbones and chin, asking, "Why…you so different?" Really, Chelsea didn't mind; she knew he was just being curious. Besides, it looked like he had never seen a girl before. The way he uneasily glanced at her waist and chest area before blushing slightly and turning away told her that much.

"Oh…well, Shea…that's because I'm a girl. Do you know what a girl…or female is?" Chelsea explained.

Shea was clearly amused that he knew something he was supposed to by this new person. "Yes! Wada tell me all about boys and girls. Just don't know what girl looked before." He had the most b boyish smile on his face, it was absolutely adorable. Shea had pure white teeth; it complimented his tan skin.

Chelsea suddenly became aware of soft sand brushing against her legs and hands; she hadn't before due to this new interesting experience. To her right was the sea, gently lapping upon the white-sand shore, and crashing upon the rocks in the shallow and deeper sectors of the water. To her left was a steep shoe cliff, the top of which the tropical forest loomed, the sounds of exotic flora and fauna cawing and humming.

"Um…Shea?" Chelsea said, touching Shea's shoulder, because he was looking everywhere Chelsea had looked, wondering what was the matter.

"Chelsea? Something bad?"

"Oh, no, Shea…Just…what happened?" Chelsea pondered.

Shea moved his stare to the sky, as if looking back in time to properly recollect the events.

"You fell in water…hit shoulder on rocks," he explained, motioning to the rocks of the ocean, where she fell (which was now a sizeable hole in the side of the cliff, pieces of rubble still rolling into the steep ocean), and to her shoulder, which Chelsea realized was bandaged with leaves. Surprisingly, no pain pulsed from the wound. "Then you stayed under…I swim after you, bring you here. You coughed up much. Then you woke up." Chelsea looked at him in wonder, in gratitude. It was amazing to her that somebody could save the life of somebody they never knew, especially since he risked his own life in the process.

"How can I ever thank you?" Chelsea partially gasped.

He looked down and fumbled with his thumbs for a few moments, wondering what to request. At last the thought came to him. "Will you be…friend?" he requested.

Smiling warmly, she answered, "Of course, Shea."

"Visit?"

"Yep."

"See hand?"

"What?"

"Please," Shea requested, smiling that adorable boy smile that Chelsea found she couldn't resist. Chelsea put out her right hand, spreading her fingers toward the skies and having her palm facing Shea, slightly below his eye level.

"Er…Like this?" she wondered. Shea nodded, a questioning look on his face.

He softly placed his hand next to hers, both of their palms and fingers facing each other. Chelsea took note of the rather different skin colors; she hadn't quite yet acquired the tan she desired, because she hadn't been on the island for long. Of course, Shea's hands and fingers were longer and obviously more strong than Chelsea's. Honestly, she really expected his hands to be hard and calloused, but they were decently soft, slightly hardened by the no doubt strenuous work that had to be performed daily in Chelsea's mind-set of Shea's life-hunting and foraging for food, as his lingual skills and clothing suggested.

"You have small hands than me!" Shea mused, "But they same in way."

"Yeah? I've always thought I had really big hands, kinda because everybody said so," Chelsea responded, withdrawing her hand, reminiscing the taunting of her above-average height, and, consequently, bigger hands and feet. Mind you, she wasn't rail-thin either (but never overweight or in danger of becoming so), and that ever helped matters.

"No. They perfect," Shea told her, smiling. Chelsea almost blushed at his sweetness.

Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "Uh, Shea? How are we gonna get up back into the jungle?"

"I never here, only when you fell. I jump in water to you. I don't know way up," he said, a contemplative look on his face. He then pointed to a strip of sand that seemed to surround the curve of the island and sea-side cliff that separated the jungle from the water. "We try that way? Maybe find way up?" Shea stood up, offering his hand to help Chelsea off of her knees. Naturally, she accepted his hand and he gracefully lifted her with ease.

And so, they followed the trail, unbeknownst of where it would lead or how long it would be until they made it back to the jungle. The sun was now eking toward the horizon, and the time before Denny began to worry about Chelsea's whereabouts was running thin.

~.~

**Wow! It has been a ****lonnnngggggg**** time! Between internet turning off, the holidays, and schoolwork, I had no time to write. Either that or I was struck with writers block! I hope everybody keeps on reading. **

**Funny thing is, I postponed it for a long time, then tonight I just started typing, and the words just flowed out. I feel accomplished now! However, it being 11:10, I should go get some sleep before I wake up at 6:00. Thanks again to all my reviewers! I hope you haven't forgotten about me in my absence!**


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